The numbers of ferrets a person has depend on a number of factors.
We simply won't have any more than we can afford and that means that
(knowing it can go higher) we plan finances to be able to spend $5,000
for each ferret in any given year.  (Yes, that means doing without other
things; our only large luxury is our sportscar.) So, while we certainly
hope to never spend that much we do budget for that.  The amount used to
be $3,500 budgeted per ferret but costs have gone up.
 
Numbers also depend on special needs of the ferrets.  When there is a
very handicapped, ill, or deformed one the level of time needed for that
individual is so much higher that we would never think of adding as many
ferrets as we might have other time.
 
Further, there is the need for individual attention.  Together Steve and
I figure that we can manage no more than 8 (the highest number we have
had at one time in 21 years with ferrets in the family) in terms of
providing attention, and in all honesty the quality of attention for each
individual goes way up when we have no more than 6 so we are thinking of
never going above that number again.  Right now there are 4 ferrets in
our family.
 
There also is the cleanliness factor.  Let's face it, ferret math is
a continual temptation for anyone but anyone who can't keep a place
reasonably clean (I don't mean eat-off-the-floor level of clean but...)
has more than can be cared for in a way that is fair to the ferrets.
 
There are ways to tell people who can keep up with large numbers apart
from hoarders.  Troy Lynn recently had an article about this in one of
the issues of "Ferrets" magazine and here are some links which should by
read by anyone with more than a few ferrets or who is tempted to have
more.  They will let those who risk falling into being hoarders see the
warning signs and gain self-control while they will reassure those who
do not fit in those hoarder categories that they are managing better
than perhaps even they realized.  Anyone who is afraid to read them or
postpones reading them is more likely to need them so if you have more
than a few ferrets or are thinking of doing so read these and read them
thoroughly and if they fit then worry and take constructive action
instead of getting defensive because that will help the ferrets and you
the most:
 
http://www.tufts.edu/vet/cfa/hoarding.html
http://www.tufts.edu/vet/cfa/MunicipaLawyer.pdf
http://www.legis.state.il.us/publicacts/pubact92/acts/92-0454.html
http://www.psychiatrictimes.com/p000425.html
 
Susie, you made me smile so hard when I though about her kissing you all
over your face.  Melissa, LOL!  Yes, that is how it can feel!
 
Surgery or not: yes it can be a hard call and depends on many things
such as the ability of the veterinary surgeon (Ask because they vary a
lot.  Our's, Joe Martins of Bellemead AH in NJ, has lost only one ferret
postsugically in his career-- one of our's who had hidden advanced
lymphosarcoma and has so far lost none in surgery though our Seven tried
to die and our Warp tried to die when both had unusually complicated
non-standard surgeries with Warps being repair of a friable intestine
and Sevie having had an insulinoma is an unusual and very tricky location
on the pancreas and developing Complete A/V Heart Node Block (a rare
insulinoma complication that damages the heart's signaling) while on the
table.  Ask also what the ferrets who died had and what the surgery was
because obviously a vet who loses ferrets in very difficult surgeries
is different from one who loses a number in standard surgeries, and find
out how many ferrets the vet cares for.), the anesthesia used (very
important), the results of the pre-op testing (for instance most thrown
clots are from cardiomyopathy or kidney disease and pre-op testing can
sometimes find these but there can be other causes and pre-op testing
does not find everything), the post-op care (the most common errors seem
to involve letting a ferret be too active within the first 10 days which
is a common but very dangerous mistake, using standard litter that causes
infections at the incision, not getting enough foods and especially water
into the ferret so that dehydration occurs, not calling the vet in a
timely fashion if a complication occurs, giving meds or supplements the
vet has not okayed, not following vet instructions, etc.).  Even when
everything is done right sometime the unexpected happens.  Luckily, the
rate can be kept down, but it can happen.  I am sorry that you and your
little furrie went through that.  The fact is, though, that there is
suffering attached to untreated medical problems, including adrenal ones,
and that there are ways to spare most ferrets from that and give them
more quality and quantity of time.  I'm sorry that things turned out so
poorly for your little one; in our experience that is the rarity rather
than the norm.
[Posted in FML issue 4184]